Daily Dose of D'Arcy

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Q&A with James D'Arcy who stars as a psychopath in the thriller, “In Their Skin”

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“In Their Skin” is a deeply disturbing fright fest. What makes it so scary is that it could happen. It’s a home invasion movie along the lines of “Funny Games,” “Panic Room,” and “Pacific Heights.” Selma Blair and Joshua Close play a grief-stricken couple who have gone to their country home to try to relax and pull themselves together for the sake of their marriage and their son (Quinn Lord). New neighbors drop by to introduce themselves and finagle a dinner invite. Rachel Miner and Alex Ferris are creepy as the woman and son, but the firestorm of the movie is James D’arcy as the bonafide psychopath.Examiner Dorri Olds landed a one-on-one with the rising star. Here is today's interview.

Dorri Olds: Was it fun to play a demented person?James D’Arcy: It was high energy, especially towards the end. It was good fun. I haven’t seen the film yet but the bit about sitting around the table mimicking everybody was fun. We had only 18 days to shoot the whole flick. Luckily, it was only four main actors working together, but it was still crazy.

Were you able to shake off the role at the end of the day or did it haunt you?Nyah, it didn’t stay with me. We’d go out and have lovely sushi dinners after shooting.

Did you stick to the script or were you able to improvise and make the character your own?Bobby was originally written as a redneck. When I went to meet Jeremy [director Jeremy Power Regimbal] and Josh [writer Joshua Close] I told them I was interested but said, “If you want me to do it, I don’t think I’d be good at it the way it’s written.” I told them I had another idea. As soon as I described how I wanted to play it, Josh said, “Oh yes! Sure!” He was really great about it.

Had you been told you look like Anthony Perkins before you were chosen to play him in the soon to be released “Hitchcock”?Yeah, I got it once or twice. But you know, people always say you look like someone. I always try to forget it. You know, you just want to be you. When they were casting "Hitchcock" I’d heard Sacha [director Sacha Gervasi] was doing it so I got in touch.

What was it like to work with Anthony Hopkins?He is the nicest, sweetest man, and incredibly generous with his time. Obviously, one of the greatest film actors ever. It was a total honor working with him. I have nothing but utter admiration for the man.

How did you prepare for your role in “Hitchcock?”To study Anthony Perkins I watched his old films. He uses such interesting body language and has a very unexpected and original delivery of speech. You only have to watch “Psycho” once to see his dialogue is unlike anybody else’s. It’s staccato. Nobody sounds like Anthony Perkins and it was hard to mimic. He breaks sentences up in ways that most people don’t and has a deep, rich voice. My voice is higher but it was fun trying to sound like him. You don’t want to be disrespectful and forget he was a real person. You want it to feel that it could be him, the actor. Not him as only Norman Bates. You want to give a performance where people forget they’re watching actors. Great examples of that are Helen Mirren playing “The Queen” or Michael Sheen playing Tony Blair, or Sheen as David Frost in “Frost/Nixon.”

Why do you suppose you get so many scary, creepy roles?Oh, I don’t know. In “Cloud Atlas” I play a nice person. And I played the King of England in “W.E.”

How was it playing the King?It was such a long time ago now it’s hard to remember. I’m sure it was like preparing for any role. And, I did love the costumes. They made beautiful suits for me. [Laughs]

Can you talk about your upcoming projects? You have so many.I do? What projects am I working on?

Well, let’s see—“The Philosophers” just wrapped, right? Then there’s “The Making of a Lady” and “Enemy of Man.”“The Philosophers” is an indie film shot in Indonesia on a small budget. It’s sort of a mindbender—like “Inception.” Though it’s not actually like “Inception” at all so I guess that’s a ludicrous analogy. Nevermind. Okay, “Making of a Lady” is a period drama but it’s a surprising one, not what you’d expect. The movie is gritty and my character, Mr. Zimit, turns out to be not what he seems. In "Enemy of Man" I play Banquo, Macbeth's war friend. We meet the three witches.

One last question: Did you ever have a weird incident with a crazed fan?No weird fan stuff, yet. But, if anything happens, Dorri, you’ll be the first to know! [Laughs]